Operation Silent Giant

Operation Silent Giant (5 June 1968) was a covert search-and-destroy operation by the MACV-SOG of the United States with the goal of destroying North Vietnamese supplies in the capital of Hanoi. The nighttime attack failed as many NVA guards killed the American troops in a battle in the Hanoi Hilton.

Operation
General William Westmoreland planned an operation in North Vietnam that would be able to destroy the North Vietnamese Army's will to fight - he consulted with MACV-SOG and ordered them to carry out a search-and-destroy mission in the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi to destroy NVA war supplies. A team of 20 SOG troops entered Hanoi via helicopter and headed to the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison, where they were to set charges on the NVA supplies and blow them up.

The SOG were ambushed by NVA at nighttime, and many of them were killed. The operation leaders were gunned down in battle as the North Vietnamese guards were roused to the threat. The result was a failure for the USA, whose mission was defeated.